Elevated floor for drydock



y ,1969 P. J. JOOSTEN ,4

ELEVATED FLOOR FOR DRYDOCK Filed July 27. 1967 FIG. 3.

INVENTOR PETER J. JOO-STEN United States Patent 3,453,833 ELEVATED FLOO FOR DRYDOCK Peter J. Joosten, Arlington, Va., assignor to the United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Navy Filed July 27, 1967, Ser. No. 656,994 Int. Cl. B63c 1/00; E04c 2/04; E04b 5/04 US. C]. 61-66 1 Claim ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Apparatus for drydocking a ship when the ship is equipped with fixed protruding appendages. An elevated modular floor is placed on the conventional drydock floor and the modules spaced so as to provide clearance for the hull appendages.

Background of the invention The present invention relates to the drydocking or ships and in particular to ships having fixed appendages protruding from the normal hull outline. Typical of such appendages would be domes used to cover sonar transducers fixed to the hull of the ship. These domes vary in size and in shape and may extend as much as 6 to 10 feet below the normal keel line. The presently used method for accommodating such ships in a drydock is to use a high blocking method which supports the ship well above the floor of the dock in order to provide clearance for the protruding domes. This method is costly in material and in the installation time required since it is necessary to provide staging beneath the hull in order to work on the under side of the hull as well as requiring greater time for installation. Further, this blocking method provides a less stable support for the hull than the normal low blocking and in areas susceptible to earth tremors, may create a danger to personnel working within the dock.

A second method presently used to accommodate dome-equipped ships is to provide a pit in the floor of the dock to provide clearance for such domes. This method is not completely satisfactory since such a pit must be large enough to accommodate the largest domes and also when the pit is not required it must be covered with grating to provide a level floor surface. In addition, the pit wall tends to restrict the work area around the instrumentation covered by the dome and further, providing the required drainage for such pits complicates the construction of the drydock.

The present invention overcomes these disadvantages by providing a raised modular floor to be placed on the normal floor of the drydock. These modules may be arranged so as to provide space between the modules which provides clearance for the domes or other fixed appendages on the ship. The modular floor provides great flexibility in the accommodation of various types of vessels in that the cleared spaces may be adjusted to accommodate a particular vessel to be docked. In addition, if the ship to be doc'ked does not have fixed appendages the raised floor may be removed and blocking provided in the normal manner.

3,453,833 Patented July 8, 1969 Description of the drawings FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a set of modules spaced on a drydock floor;

FIG. 2 is an elevation showing ship mounted on the floor; and

FIG. 3 is an end view of FIG. 2 at line 33.

Objects of the invention It is an object of this invention to provide a means for drydocking ships having irregularly shaped hulls.

It is a further object of this invention to provide an elevated modular floor for drydocks.

It is another object of this invention to provide a novel means for supporting ship in a drydock which provides clearance for fixed appendages on the hull.

Description of the preferred embodiment Referring now to the drawings wherein like reference characters designate like or corresponding parts throughout the several views there is shown in FIG. 1 an elevated floor as it would appear when placed on the floor of a drydock. The elevated floor is composed of a series of identical modules 10. These modules are of prestressed concrete and are formed to provide an upper plane surface 12 supported on the arched base. The form of the arches provides two base members, 14, upon which the modules rest. The arched shape provides strength while at the same time allowing minimum weight for the strength required. In addition, lightening holes 16 may be provided to further reduce the weight without materially affecting the strength of the module. Each module is provided with a plurality of recessed rings 18 by which the module may be transported by crane or other suitable means. In addition, there is provided around the edge of each module a series of sockets 20 in which a handrail 22 may be installed.

When installed on the floor of a drydock the modules may be spaced, for example as in FIG. 1, to provide clearance spaces shown as A and B for accepting hull appendages. There is shown in FIG. 2 a ship 24 as it would be supported in a drydock using the invention. Modules 10 are shown spaced, as in FIG. 1', to accommodate instrumentation domes 26 and 28, in clearance spaces A and B. The ship is supported on the elevated floor in a conventional manner through the use of keel blocks and hull blocks 30. FIG. 3 which is an end view of FIG. 2 along line .33 shows the placement of the blocks along the hull in a conventional manner. The blocks illustrated are of solid material, generally of wood, which are typical of those currently in use. The invention is also adaptable to the use of a recently developed automatically adjustable blocking system as described in U. S. Patent No. 3,326,007.

Thus from the above description it can be seen that there is provided herein a novel method of supporting a ship in a drydoc'k when greater than normal clearance is required between the hull outline and the floor of the drydock.

Obviously, many modifications and variations of the present invention are possible in the light of the above teachings. For example, the modules may be constructed of materials other than prestressed concrete as described above.

The modules may also be of various sizes to accommoa railing removably mounted on said planar surface date unconventional hull shapes. along the perimeter thereof; and

The invention described herein may be manufactured a plurality of foot members formed on the bottom and used by or for the Government of the United States portion of said body member, said foot members of America for governmental purposes without the paycomprising the solid portions of said body member ment of any royalties thereon or therefor. between said arcuate openings.

It is, therefore, to be understood that within the scope of the appended claim the invention may be practiced References Cited otherwise than specifically described. UNITED STATES PATENTS What Is clam 10 3,370,433 2/1968 Burnett 61-66 X 1. A portable floor module for forming an elevated floor in a-drydock, said floor module comprising: FOREIGN PATENTS a monolithic body member having an upper horizontal 116,937 7/1918 Great Britain planar surface and a plurality of spaced-apart arcuate openings in the lower portion thereof, said open- 15 JACOB SHAPIRO, Primary Examilm; ings intersecting the bottom surface of said body member; US. Cl. X.R. at least one ring member attached to said body mem- 52-602 ber in a recessed opening in said planar surface; 

